It’s well known that children learn by mimicking the behaviour around them. The adage “do what I say and not what I want” doesn’t work with them. Parents who want their children to keep their room tidy need to show how it’s done by keeping the home clean and organised. Similarly, it’s likely that kids who are shouted at as a punishment adopt this kind of behavior too: loud children = loud parenting. So, it’s your responsibility to show your children the behaviour that you expect them to copy. This goes for social skills as well as developing healthy habits. If you want your children to learn ... read more

Living in St Albans we're incredibly luck to have Willows Activity Farm right on our doorstep. It's close enough that plenty of kids from the children's school go regularly. We tend to keep it as somewhere that we go on a special occasion or as a big treat though. Keeping it as a magical place to go for the kids and when they do go they always absolutely love it.
It has been a while though since our last visit and since then Willows have become home to CBeebies' Peter Rabbit, so this was the first time that Little Miss C and Master C had been to the Peter Rabbit Adventure Playground or ... read more

(image: wikimedia)
We all need a good night’s sleep, and your kids are no exception. Having to deal with cranky moods and behavior issues when they are tired is no easy task. Of course, getting them to go to bed isn’t easy either. However, we are here to help. In this article, we have put together five ways in which you can help your child get a better night’s sleep. Follow these tips, and you might even get to bed on time too!
Keep your kids active
After a long day at school, the last thing your kids want to do is exercise. Watching tv and playing video games may be a more attractive ... read more

I know it won't have escaped your attention that the Minions are back soon with Despicable Me 3, and the kids and I are so excited about going to see the new film when it comes out at the end of June. Specsavers are celebrating the release with adding four new frames to its exclusive Minions range.
Master C and I were invited along to the Specsavers store in St Albans to see the range when it launched on 31 May, and to choose some glasses for him from the range.
The frames in the range are priced at £64 each and are free for under 16s with an NHS optical voucher. The Despicable Me 3 ... read more

It can be worrying for many parents when their children are invited to a big and formal event. What to wear, will there be suitable food, will the children be bored? One way to ensure your children are kept entertained is via cheap, homemade games.
Paddy Power, the master of online bingo sites have created a set of wedding bingo cards. Whether you are a bride or groom or a member of the wedding party or guest, if you have children these cards make a great game.
Simply print them off an allow your children to play while the speeches take place or waiting for the cake to be cut. Of course, ... read more

I was rather excited to see a new book from Lisa Stickley arrive for us to review last week. We met Edith in her last book, Handstand, and she appears again in My New Room. Designer Lisa Stickley has a style that has already become instantly recognisable here and as soon as Little Miss C saw My New Room she went looking for our copy of Handstand to put with it on her bookcase.
In My New Room, much as the title suggests, it is time for Edith to move into a new bedroom with a "Big Bed". It's a step that many children go through, and sometimes it can be a bit of a scary one, especially if the ... read more

The kids are becoming rather too used to preview screenings of films and I'm pretty sure they think that all cinemas have face painters permanently in the lobby and goodie bags when you leave. I fear they may be disappointed next time we take them to our local cinema to see something. Last Saturday was a bit different though as rather than a film, this time we were the guests of Fremantle Media to see a preview of a special edition of Kate and Mim-Mim which is due to air on CBeebies on the 19th October.
Kate in Oz sees Kate and Mim-Mim swapping Mimiloo for the land of Oz in this special ... read more

As a busy parent it can be so simple to over look those special moments that happen with your kids just as part of everyday life. You tend to really remember the trips out to theme parks, things you did on holiday or the big events like birthdays, but there are so many other special things that happen without quite so much fanfare which can for just as precious memories.
I was therefore delighted to be asked to work with Channel Mum and Cadbury Dairy Milk Buttons to record and share three such special moments and to show you how you can use the new Memory Lane tool to help capture and share ... read more

With all the drama of Master C trying to eclipse his sister's birthday it's only now that I've found myself sitting back and thinking about what Little Miss C's sixth birthday really means. It seems hard to remember a time when she wasn't here with us, yet at the same time I can't believe that it's been six years ago since I was introducing her here on the blog.
She's gone from a tiny baby that we dressed up in a cute England baby grow whilst we watched the football, to a six year old little lady who can, and does, very clearly tell us when she doesn't want to watch the football on the ... read more

Wow! What. A. Summer.
I'm sat here surrounded by bits of Little Miss C's school uniform that I've been busy sewing name tapes on to all evening. She's back to school in the morning and incredibly excited about it. It seems hard to believe that I was worried about 6 weeks of summer holidays stretching ahead of me as I just had no idea how to fill all that time. As it happens though I've had no real problems at all (although I won't deny that there have been some afternoons that have felt like forever!) and we've had a really busy summer with lots of days out, a planned holiday to Wales and ... read more